Justice Dept. moves to end Fla. lawsuit, citing national security

A declaration in support of ending a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., lawsuit says the suit’s classified information could compromise FBI security investigations.

An assertion by FBI official David Hardy, in a sworn 33-page declaration, says disclosure of certain classified information about Florida residents who hurriedly left their homes after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack “would reveal current specific targets of the FBI’s national security investigations.”

The declaration is in support of a U.S. Department of Justice that seeks to end a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed in 2012 by the Florida online newspaper BrowardBulldog.org, the newspaper said.